Sam Hunt Isn’t as Focused on Music Anymore: ‘My Interests Have Changed’

Sam Hunt is releasing his first new single in more than a year, and in a new interview, he admits he's simply not as single-minded about his music career as he once was.

Hunt, 33, is set to release "Downtown's Dead" on Wednesday (May 16). It's his first single since he released "Body Like a Back Road" in February 2017, and the singer-songwriter says that since he released his debut album, Montevallo, in 2014, much has changed about his life.

“I’ve grown up a little bit since my first record, and I feel my first record was inspired by an era of my life that really left with something to say and something to sing about,” Hunt tells Yahoo!. “And at this point … I’ve gotten into some other things outside of music that I really enjoy. Just other interests of mine that have nothing to do with music."

Many of the songs on Montevallo were inspired by Hunt's on-again, off-again relationship with his longtime love, Hannah Lee Fowler. The couple reconciled after the album was released, and married in April 2017.

Where Has Sam Hunt Been?

“I don’t know where my career will go from here, but my sole focus hasn’t been on making music all the time like it was in my 20s," Hunt concedes. "I’m not writing as many songs. My interests have changed.”

Hunt began his career as a songwriter for other artists, including Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington and Keith Urban, and he says that over the last year, he just hasn't been inspired to write the kind of songs that drive him as a solo artist.

"It hasn’t come together in a way that would really make a great album," he says, adding that he also hasn't been interested in putting in the kind of time it would require "to produce a record at the level which I’m operating right now.”

Hunt has been touring over the course of the last year, but the former economics major, who also studied politics and philosophy, admits that much of his recent focus has been on continuing education.

“I’ve been reading a lot in the past year just trying to educate myself. I got married last year, and I’m in my 30s now, and I feel I’m not as educated as I should be," he reflects. "So I’ve been spending a lot of time just reading and informing myself, outside of putting out songs that work on the radio. Just been trying to broaden my horizons.”

Hunt is at least on schedule for the new music he promised fans he'd release before he hits the road at the end of May with Luke Bryan on a stadium tour. He has not yet announced a schedule for a sophomore album in the wake of "Downtown's Dead," but he says he is looking forward to the upcoming live dates, which include a headlining slot at the Taste of Country Music Festival in June.

“I have a lot of ambitions but I don’t know,” Hunt reflects. “I just haven’t really found that inspiration yet. I think it’s just taking the time to find the inspiration while on the road.”